In the wake of the shooting rampage in Connecticut, President Obama announced that a new task force would develop concrete proposals for dealing with gun violence.

As President Obama mentioned, authorities must work to make “access to mental health care at least as easy as access to a gun”. This recent slaughter has ignited renewed national debates over gun control, mental health care, and school safety.

Strict gun control measures, of course, need to be implemented. Along with that, limiting mentally ill people’s access to weapons should also be reconsidered.

“To reduce the risk of multi-victim violence, we would be better advised to focus on early detection and treatment of mental illness,” Washington based think tank, Cato chairman Robert Levy told the Times.

But what is the definition of mentally ill in the first place? And what should be considered effective health care? Will the existing psychiatrists be able to continue to provide effective prescriptions to their patients?

With heartfelt condolences for the innocent victims, we’d like to introduce a few excerpts from Master Ryuho Okawa’s lecture titled The Principles of Spiritual Possession — How to Protect Yourself from Evil Spirits— (this lecture was given on February 11, 2004) which explains how and why ordinary people’s characters change when they are possessed by evil or malicious spirits. We truly hope that this offering will, in an indirect way, contribute to the prevention of an appearance of another Adam Lanza before the enactment of effective laws.

We would like to note that Master Okawa has given a wide variety of lectures regarding spirit possession as well as self-reflection. The following presentation of Master Okawa’s work only represents a small portion of what he has taught us.

Part 2

Possession Occurs When There Is a Connection
The Law of Same Wavelengths’ Attraction

I am now going to explain further why possession occurs. One of the laws that I must definitely mention is the “Law of Same Wavelengths’ Attraction.” We often use this term at Happy Science and I would like you all to understand it clearly.
While you are living on Earth, you are a three-dimensional being whose mind is confined in a physical body that belongs to this world. Your mind is the core of your soul, however, and is always connected with the world that exists beyond this one.
The mind can be described as being like an electromagnet, and the frequencies transmitted by the mind, or the tone of the mind, are in a state of constant exchange with the spirit world, the two affecting and being affected by each other. The mind is connected to the spirit world in this way.
The key to understanding possession lies with the mind: what is your mind attracting as an electromagnet? For instance, if you wish to know what kind of spirit is possessing you at the moment or what kind of spirit is likely to come to you, all you have to do is examine your mind. In most cases, you will be in contact with spirits that share the same type of thoughts that fill your mind.
This Law of Same Wavelengths’ Attraction is quite difficult to comprehend, but once you gain actual experience, it is very easy to tell what spirits possess you. I often explain this law as being similar to changing the channels on a television.
The broadcasting companies send out various programs, but if the television is not tuned to them, the image cannot be seen; however, when it has been properly tuned to a channel, the image becomes quite clear. The same is true of the radio. If it is properly tuned in, if it is on the correct wavelength, then the FM programs can be heard, but if the frequencies do not match, you will hear nothing.
This is also how your mind works. Various kinds of “broadcast wavelengths” are emitted from the realms of Heaven and Hell, but if people on Earth are not tuned in, they will not be able to receive such signals.
There is a vast diversity of signals and messages emanating from all kinds of beings throughout the spirit world. When the wavelength exactly matches that of somebody on Earth, spirit and human become attuned to one another. When spirits are in contact in this way or when a spirit is needed on Earth, it is possible for the spirit to visit Earth.

Attachments Attract Spirits from Hell
Animal spirits possess at the acupuncture points of the body

In times of sickness, the part of the physical body that is damaged is often damaged in the spiritual body as well. According to Eastern medicine, there are various acupuncture points in the body, located in areas such as the head, neck, shoulders, back, lower back, legs, and so on, which are used in massage, acupuncture, and moxa. These acupuncture points coincide with the parts of the body that animal spirits tend to possess.
A spirit can possess a body when there is something to attach itself to. When somebody’s blood f low is disrupted and congested in a certain area, spirits are able to latch onto it. The places where this congestion occurs become prone to fatigue or pain and, looked at spiritually, they take on a dark shadow. This is where a spirit can attach itself.
For instance, people suffering from rheumatism or who say that their feet always feel cold often have a snake spirit wrapped tightly around their legs.

What Kind of Mind Is Prone to Possession?

Then, why do spirits possess your body at the acupuncture points? When you are possessed, a part of your spiritual body is also in pain, but the reason for the pain is actually to be found in your mind.
I spoke earlier of the Law of Same Wavelengths’ Attraction, and there is always a reason why a spirit possesses a body. The spirit cannot possess the person without any reason. For a spirit to possess somebody, both the possessor and the possessed must share the same mind; their minds must be of the same quality. So what kind of mind does a spirit tend to possess?
As you can imagine, Hell is a damp, dark place where the light of Heaven does not reach, where the Spiritual Sun does not shine. On the other hand, it is always daytime in Heaven because the Spiritual Sun is always shining down upon it. The spirits living in Heaven live by absorbing its light as their energy.
The skies of Hell are always covered with heavy rain clouds. These clouds are made of evil thoughts created by the inhabitants of Earth and Hell. No matter how bright the light may be, if the clouds are thick enough, the light will not be able to penetrate them. In this way, the clouds of evil thoughts spread out and cut off the light, leaving it dark below. Symbolically, Hell is like a cave in a mountain or an underground world. The realm of Hell is a place where the sun does not shine.
What kind of mind does not receive light? It is a mind that stands in opposition to the light. When your mind opposes the light, it reacts by creating clouds. Then, what kind of mind stands in opposition to the light? For living people, it is a mind that is consumed with worries and troubles. Worries and troubles cause the mind to be in a dark, negative state.
As long as you are living on Earth as a human, it is impossible to avoid worries altogether. Everybody has worries, but as long as you have the ability to resolve your worries and problems, you will be all right. If you are unable to solve your problems, however, your mind will become shackled. Your mind becomes bound to one spot and you cannot stop thinking about the problem.
If this state continues for a long time, that is to say, your thoughts remain fixed on a single issue, then it will appear to spirits in Hell as if a rope has been lowered down to them from above. They will look at this single, long rope and say to themselves, “What is this rope in front of me? I suppose someone wants me to come up.” They will then grasp hold of it and begin to climb. They will approach the person with the worries as if to offer help. So if you constantly worry about one issue for a long period of time, spirits from Hell will start to visit you.

People Who Want to Commit Suicide Attract the Spirits of People Who Killed Themselves

Recently, we have seen an upsurge in the number of suicides. In particular, we have seen an increase in the number of company presidents whose businesses have f loundered, who are unable to recover no matter how hard they try, who fail to run a new venture, or who cannot get backing from the banks and end up taking their own lives. There was even a man in Japan who left a major bank to become the CEO of another bank that had caused various social problems and, unable to overcome the difficulties faced by the bank, he hung himself.
I am sure that they were not bad people, but their worries remained focused on one problem that they were unable to solve. When this happens, the worry creates vibrations of pain that attract spirits who are on the same wavelength. Spirits that reso¬nate with these vibrations are able to connect with the person.
When a company president is considering taking his own life, the spirits of other presidents who have already committed suicide will come to him. There are company presidents who died one, two, ten, even twenty years earlier and have been languishing in Hell or who never made it to Hell but still haunt their old company or home. Such spirits latch onto the feelings of people who are struggling in a similar situation and come to them.
The spirits may believe they are consoling and supporting somebody who is suffering with the same problems they did, but in actual fact, they are not helping them, but are trying to drag them down into the other world. Looked at objectively, the spirits are dragging the living down into the same morass in which they are trapped, to increase the number of fellow sufferers.
These spirits do not necessarily act out of malice when dragging their victims into the other world; they are just completely lost. Their mere presence amplifies the emotion of sadness and worry in the living, however, causing them further anguish and confusion. Their presence will cause people to lose all hope for the future and choose to die.

Religion Teaches the Way to Overcome Worries and Pain

Worries and pain are something that everybody experiences in life and, since ancient times, religion has taught ways to overcome them. If worries and pain are held for an extended period, they develop into attachments that are impossible to escape. If such worries remain for a long time, they can become dangerous. Therefore you must abandon attachments and release your mind from such worries.
The ways to overcome them are, for example, praying to Buddha or God, and practicing self-reflection. You can also learn the Buddhist teaching of impermanence, that everything belonging to this world, everything with a physical form, perishes eventually. This means that your house will eventually crumble and you will be parted from your loved ones. Your thoughts may now be consumed by your company or work, but even this company cannot last forever. You must realize that all things in this world are transient and impermanent.
While the previous may appear to be a rather pessimistic outlook, the principle of impermanence allows you to get rid of the greed for fame, the self-serving greed to expand your business, and all other earthly attachments. As a result, you will feel somewhat relieved and the possessing spirits will move away. You must stop thinking in ways that amplify your worries.
Another method is to think positively, to make your heart brighter, and to cut your connections with evil spirits. Different religions use different approaches to help people.
To sum up, if you hold on to worries for a long time, you will eventually attune yourself to evil spirits and attract them to you. Evil spirits who have a similar mind state as you will come and possess you. For example, if you are suffering with a business matter, you may find the spirit of a dead company president possessing you and sharing your worries and suffering, believing it is his own company.

Malicious Spirits Who Intentionally Make People Unhappy

[There are “malicious spirits” and] they actively create misfortune in this world and destroy happiness. They try to bring suffering to people on Earth because they cannot find happiness of their own. They know only how to hold grudges and strive to make people unhappy. For instance, there are the spirits of people who did not do well in business, whose companies went bankrupt and who committed suicide. They know that their company is done for, but if nothing else, they at least want to destroy companies belonging to their friends in the same way. They also wish to bring misery to relatives who laughed at their failure.

In this way, if spirits start seriously and purposely to try and make others suffer, they will be classified as “malicious spirits.” If they are left to their own devices, they will carry out evil deeds endlessly, one after another.
To a greater or lesser extent, everybody has the feeling, “If I cannot be happy, then I want other people to be unhappy too.” No one can deny this. If you cannot be successful and find happiness yourself, then you will want to make others unhappy as well, to feel better. This feeling can build up and, eventually, it becomes a powerful force.
However, it is pitiful to see people living ordinary lives here on Earth who, upon leaving this world in a few years or decades, will turn into such miserable beings in the next life.